Barbra Streisand continued to churn out albums in the mid-60s, releasing four between 1966 and 1967.
First came Color Me Barbra, another record that accompanied a television special. As the title suggests, it was Streisand’s first TV production not shot in black and white.
Then came Je m’appelle Barbra, which found her singing most of its tracks in French.
1967’s Simply Streisand was a more traditional release, populated with the sort of Broadway fare that made up her early albums. It wasn’t received very well critically, dismissed as a pale imitation of its predecessors.
In October of the same year, Streisand broke out of that minor slump and released one of the top-selling albums of her career. Kicking off a minor trend of Jewish performers recording collections of Christmas songs, she offered up A Christmas Album.
This collection of 11 Christmas classics finds Streisand mostly playing it straight, though she does kick off the album with a delightfully dizzying rendition of ‘Jingle Bells.’ Side One features secular tunes such as ‘White Christmas,’ ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ and ‘The Christmas Song,’ while Side Two gets religious (‘Ave Maria,’ ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ and ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,’ among others).
This is the first Streisand album I know well, having heard it many times in my childhood home at Christmas time. This and Frank Sinatra’s Christmas album were the soundtrack of many a December.
How still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
The angels’ voices singing
Proclaim the early morning!
And children pure and happy
A-wait the break of dawn
While charity stands watching
And faithfuls wipe the door
The dark night wakes the glory bricks
And Christmas comes once more
Meet Me In Montauk 
I may be alone in feeling this way, or perhaps other Jews feel the same, but it has always bothered me when non-Jewish artists release Christmas songs, particularly the religious ones.
I can’t help but remember the time Dad said this was his favorite Christmas song when asked by his children 🥰
That’s why I picked this one to feature 🙂
❤️
I know every breath and intonation on this album as it is the soundtrack to my yearly tradition of wrapping all the presents in the days leading up to Christmas.
She released a second album of Christmas tunes decades later, which I’m sure I gave at least a couple of compulsory listens. Still, it’s this one. Probably because it was cemented into our DNA as kids, that I always choose.
Meanwhile, I have to take exception to Dana wanting to preclude Jewish singers from covering beautiful and popular tunes to entertain millions of their fans and listeners who do celebrate the holiday.